Soccer

Road Trip: Red Bulls Draw FC Dallas

FRISCO, TX – The New York Red Bulls earned a 0-0 road draw with FC Dallas on Friday night at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. New York was able to limit a potent Dallas attack and earn a road point against one of the Western Conference’s top teams.

With the draw the Red Bulls improve to 4-1-5 on the year, and remain near the top of the Eastern Conference. New York sits in third, at least for the night, with most of the conference in action over the weekend.

“I think, for us, it was a good point on the road,” said Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch. “To come against a dangerous, attacking team, one of the most dangerous teams in the league, and to come in here and get a point, and get a shutout, showed that we were ready for the game and that we game planned and executed the right way.”

The match got off to a slow start, with the cross-conference opponents feeling each other out in the early going. Most of the first half was played between the boxes, with each team making the occasional foray into the attacking half.

The best chance of the first half came in the 40th minute, when Lloyd Sam flicked on a header that got Bradley Wright-Phillips in a step behind the defense. The Red Bulls striker turned, but his shot was then blocked by a defender who had recovered.

The visitors threatened again in first half stoppage time, when Kljestan gained possession and darted diagonally into the box. The midfielder’s pass for Sam was poked just wide of the left post.

After 45 minutes, New York held the edge in possession at just over 60%, and also recorded the only shot on-target, an effort from Felipe that was easily handled by Dallas ‘keeper Dan Kennedy.

Both teams subbed on speed at the hour mark, with Dane Richards coming on for New York and Michael Barrios replacing Dallas’ Tesho Akindele.

FC Dallas turned up the heat in the second half, earning several scoring chances. The home side looked to go ahead in the 72nd minute, when a cross from Moises Hernandez fell for Barrios, but his shot was cleared off the goal line by Felipe.

Dallas had another strong chance minutes later, when a ball fell to Fabian Castillo behind the backline, but he put his chance over the crossbar.

Wright-Phillips and Kljestan connected for a clever give-and-go in the 84th minute. Wright-Phillips slid a return into the path of Kljestan, but his shot was blocked away.

Luis Robles was sharp when called upon, making two saves on the evening for his third shutout of the season, and 22nd of his career.

For the contest, New York claimed just a shade under 60% of the possession. Both team registered three shots on goal.

New York is back home next weekend when they host the Philadelphia Union at 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 24.